Mission

I know. I'm tempted to join in on that event. I used to be pretty good and I'd like to see what time has done to my aim, if anything. Honest and for true? Gee, that would be something I'd really like to see...

Oho! "I examined [a patient] accordingly, and he told me, he had the running of the Reins, a quarter of a Year before, which was stop'd by a Woman Doctress, and that about a __ Month afterward these Ailments came upon him." (Moyle, John, Chyrurgic Memiors: Being an Account Of many Extraordinary Cures..., p. 91-2) A woman doctress! I doubt she was 'official' as I have read of other female practitioners who were not part of the surgeon's or physician's guilds. Still, I thought it was interesting that he called her a doctress - although, again, not a physician or surgeon.

"I think I can. I think I can. I think I can..."

"...a smart businessman"? Do go on...It'll be interesting to see how they twist that silly idea around. (I'd say he was more of an effective marketer than a smart businessman.)

It's a great cartoon on many levels - the cartoon dynamic, the definition of Daffy's character and the interplay between Bugs and Daffy among other things. (And yet it didn't work very well when they tried the same thing with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.)

Here's to a fellow surgeon!

If you re-read his post, Mark wasn't making the point that the Disney song contained the word. He just said they used a lot of different words that mean similar things to describe a pirate and suggested that the movies took their cue from that. This makes sense, because the first movie did make an effort to incorporate as much of the nature and tone of (not to mention the characters and scenes in) the ride as they could. At the bottom of it, I think we can safely say in our most officious Twill forum manner that it wouldn't be a GAoP description since the word doesn't appear to have traceable roots to a time before 1840. As Patrick suggests, it's more of a pop-culture pirate reference.

You know, I have never seen a complete episode of Bonanza. But Brisco County Jr. is nothing at all like the bits of Bonanza I've seen, so I'm not sure it's a fair comparison. BC Jr. is basically a campy-action-comedy-western/sci-fi show. It has more in common with Maverick than it does with Bonanza. (I've been slowly watching the Maverick episodes on Netflix. They're fun, but not what I'd call compelling.) Actually, it probably has even more in common with Batman than Maverick! If you want to talk about more serious westerns, my favorite is probably Have Gun Will Travel. But again, I've not seen Bonanza in all it's fullness - just bits of it here and there on cable on the rare occasion when I have access to cable. I personally prefer the lone hero or hero and sidekick to the family thing. This is probably part of the reason I haven't made it a point to watch them.

I just wish someone would publish it. I want to read it.

I remember those laserdiscs! They were extensive (alas, they also require one to have a laserdisc player.) While they did have a large number of cartoons (probably about 350), they're not even close to being complete. There have been well over 1000 WB cartoons made since they began making them in 1929.

Ah, words. I love them so... Most sites with credible etymology references don't provide a nice, concise origin for the word 'scallywag.' According to Sarah Bromley, a Linguistics Professor at Leeds university, it comes from 'scalawag' which "...was first used “in colloquial Southron [sic ] (US) dialect with the sense of 'an undersized or worthless animal, a runt'”. The Oxford Encyclopedia also pointedly places the blame for this word on the US. According to the Oxford Etymologist website, "Its earliest recorded sense (“a favorite epithet in western New York for a mean fellow, a scapegrace”) goes back to 1848." The podictionary, which looks pretty well-researched, gives some interesting pre-CW notes, including a reference to the Bromley comment: "Even before the Civil War the word was in circulation, ironically it was mainly used by Northerners and the Oxford English Dictionary reports mainly by trade unionists meaning a good-for-nothing. The etymology of this tasty word is reported as disappointingly unknown in all the best dictionaries, but a number of reputable word sleuths online offer up some credible alternatives. One track is that scallywag was earlier applied to horses and cattle of small stature—their size being a cause for distain—the suspicion is that that animals like Shetland ponies coming from the northern Scottish isles brought along with them the name of one of the major towns there Scalloway that got transmuted into scallywag. An alternate theory is that it is distantly related to scholar which has a Latin root but would seem to be the polar opposite of a scallywag. Again the source is Scottish and the thinking goes like this. A farmer renting land belonging to a monetary sent his first born son to study for the church. This young scholar was called a scoloc. Later any farm worker started being called a scallag and this somehow morphed into scallywag, possibly in association with another similar sounding word meaning 'vagabond.'" Note that none of these have much to do with piracy. That appears to be a more recent connection. I definitely haven't seen it in anything period I've read.

Yay! They're coming! You can pre-order them on Amazon. (I just hope I like them as well now as I did back when they first came out.)

YouTube seems to have more of them than the Golden Age DVDs. I recently got the first 6 sets (the 7th doesn't look very interesting to me) and I was hoping to find Rabbit Every Monday ("Oh carrots are divine, you get a dozen for a dime, it's maaaaagic.") and the previously linked Tom Tom Tomcat, but neither of them were on the disks. Instead, in some of the later sets they actually put some of the cartoons (the good ones, admittedly) that had already on some of the previous sets. The only trouble I've found with YouTube is that some of them have the sound stripped out due to licensing issues.

That's my favorite WB cartoon ever. (Bully for Bugs is second.)

I was told elsewhere that there isn't much proof that "Red Legs" even existed.

You might try using the search function on this forum. I know there are a couple of topics on Anne and Mary in the archives. I also recall from posting on another forum that there may be some additional information in court records. (You might also try searching the forums at piratesinfo.com which is where I read this several years ago.) Another great way I've found to get resources is to plunder the footnotes and bibliographies of well-researched books. (It seems to me that there are several books concerning Anne and Mary, although I haven't read a one, so I couldn't say which ones contain well footnoted text and thorough bibliographies.) Most of the info on her seems to come from Charles Johnson's book, which has been questioned and doubted every which way.

So you did have an ID here previously in the name of Maddog? I didn't know that. I'll change your status on the photos. (Stynky posted the original post which didn't work and then I went back into his post and edited it so that the photo info would be in the first post so that people wouldn't have to search for it. I'll put a note in there to that effect.)

“As all the crew [of the St. Paul, leaving Marseilles] were Provencaux you may be sure that they had not forgotten the fife __ and tambourine. You know that one man plays both instruments at the same time. The tambourine is fastened to his left side and is beaten with the right hand, while the fife is held and played with the left hand. One does not have to ask Provencaux to dance, so as soon as the fife and tambourine were heard every one came on deck, and I believe that this music would have cured any invalid among our crew had there been one. While some danced, others leaped about, and we had apprentices and young sailors aboard who could make the most celebrated rope-walkers look to their laurels…” (Labat, p. 260)

From Labat again: “[Feb. 4th, 1705 - I believe] As soon as our men received their share of the money for the caique and her cargo, they promptly went ashore to carouse as long as the money lasted, according to custom.” (Labat, p. 244) "Most of the crew had spent all their money by the 20th February [1705], so I helped [Filibuster Captain] Daniel to make them return to the ship. In order to do this we spread a rumour in the town that an English merchantman was expected at St. Thomas [where they were], and on hearing this all the crew came aboard in the evening." (Labat, p. 244)

This is fun; it's from The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden. Nice description of the clothing the crew stole, too. This is the same Daniel that was identified by Labat as a pirate previously. He now has a commission or some such that changes his classification from pirate to filibuster (aka. privateer in the English lexicon): “[Filibuster] Daniel kept the most valuable portions of the cargo [of an shipwrecked English vessel], such as silver, gold fringes, brocades, ribbons, Indian silks, etc., etc., for his own ship, not counting loot that the crew had taken for themselves. The men dressed themselves up in all kinds of fine clothes, and were a comical sight as they strutted about the island [Avis Island, to the leeward of Dominica according to the ms.] in feathered hats, wigs, silk __ stockings, ribbons, and other garments. They discovered [learned] from the slaves that some cases of valuables and silver had been buried [by the English crew of the wrecked ship], so an inventory of all the cargo that had been found was shown to the supercargo [the person hired by the ship’s owner to manage, buy, trade and sell the merchandise on the ship] of the wreck and compared with his bills of lading. The two lists showed that many valuable articles were missing, and our quartermaster told him that if the lost goods were not found at once that filibusters knew the way to make him open his mouth. Fear made him disclose everything.” (Labat, p. 239-40)

I was looking through the archives for something and I came across this post again. So far, no book has been published that I can tell. However, there were some other stories in the UK Telegraph that I'm reprinting here before they archive them or something. (This stuff is useful to my research and so it may be to others.) The first is just a listing of some entries, which comes from this article: Diary entries of sailor George Hodge The diary entries of seaman George Hodge Published: 1:47PM BST 14 Aug 2008 (Collected from the internet) Dec 25, 1806, Employ'd in watering ship and seting up the riger - fish for dinner. July 15, 1807, On shore at Point [in Portsmouth] at 3pm returnd onboard from liberty brot a girl onboard MAK [initials of girl] at 5pm the girls orderd of the ship. July 19, 1807, Light breeze at 5am picked up body of John Carter and buried him on the Isle of White. July 20, 1807, I receved prize money from the brige Ben Sprance taking of the Isle of [obscured] 13..6 July 24, 1807, The Donnegal mand the yards and fired a Salute the Donnegal saild clear or lighter of wine and bread. Dec 26, 1812, A fresh breeze a strange sail in sight. Empl painting quarterdeck. Fell from the for top mast Mathew Donelson and was drownded. ____ The second is from another article in that paper here: Diary of 19th Century British Navy life 'below decks' for sale A rare record of life "below decks" in the British Navy between 1790 and 1833 penned by a sailor who served under Lord Nelson has been unearthed. By Richard Savill Published: 1:43PM BST 14 Aug 2008 (Collected from the internet) The diary of George Hodge, a lowly sailor, whose rank is unknown, contains colour paintings and the words to sea shanties that the men sang. The self-educated seaman, who spells words as they sound, begins the journal: "George Hodge his Book Consisting of Difrint ports & ships that I have sailed in since the year 1790. Aged 13 years." He recorded details of the ladies of leisure with whom he associated, and painted pictures of ships and flags as well as a self portrait. Images of ordinary seamen from the time of Nelson's Navy are rare. Hodge lists one or two skirmishes, but many entries cover the mundane activities of life on board vessels. He began his career at sea as a cabin boy in coaling vessels between Northumberland and London. In 1794 he travelled to a Russian Baltic port and on the way back was captured by the French, but was then sent home in a cartel sloop. He was captured again in 1797, but was returned home and then spent months on the run from press gangs. But in 1798 he was caught and joined HMS Lancaster. For the next nine years he served mainly along the West African coast, but also in Ceylon and the East Indies. In 1808 he joined HMS Marlborough, 74 guns, and spent the years until 1812 mostly on blockade duty around Europe. In 1815 he returned to Britain and served at Greenwich, ending his career in the merchant navy. An addition made after his death shows he had children. The 500-page journal includes lists of ships and their guns, lists of crew, and a list of 192 flag formations. These include: "1. An enemy is in sight. 2. Prepare for battle. 3. Sail by divisions... 5. Engage the enemy (If red penant shown engage more closely) ... 10. Enemy retreating at full speed." It also shows that danger was ever present for crews, even when the ships were not in battle. On Dec 26, 1812, an entry reads: "A fresh breeze a strange sail in sight. Empl painting quarterdeck. Fell from the for top mast Mathew Donelson and was drownded." Another entry reads: "July 19 light breeze at 5am picked up body of John Carter and buried him on the Isle of White." On Christmas Day, 1806, he writes: "Employ'd in wartering ship and seting up the riger ... fish for dinner." Hodge writes that he was born "In the Parish of Tinmouth in the County of Northumberland" and that his career began under "Capt Edger" who commanded the "brig Margerey." The journal belonged to the maritime collection of American J Welles Henderson, who died last year. He bought it at a rare book shop in London in the 1980s. It is being offered for sale on August 16 by Peter Coccoluto, from Northeast Auctions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, America, is expected to fetch £30,000. He said: "It is very unusual because the man appears to be self-educated which is why he spells as the words sound.

Yeah, the trouble with YouTube is that you never know what quality you'll get. As you might suspect, Conrad was voiced by Vance "Pinto" Colvig, who also voiced Goofy. (Daffy was voiced by Mel Blanc, natch.) Hairblower has great lines. I have been waiting to use (in the same tone): "Aha! An unprotected ship!" and "Surrender, Rabbit! I got ya' outnumbered one ta' one!" and "Prepare to de-fend yourself, Rabbit, cus' I'm a boardin' your ship! Charrrrrge!... Retreeeeeeat!", "You cain't get away with that Rabbit, cuz' I'm a comin' in after ya'!" or even, "You just wait there...I'll get ya' down!" (I really need to be on a ship during a re-enactment to make it work.) Also, the look on the swordfish skeleton's face is priceless. I think the guy that says "I was a human being once!" in Mutiny is modeled after one of the people that worked in the cartoon studio. I also like the mouse's line (in thick Irish brogue) "He's not long for this world." And Sam's technique for fixing leaks should go into the Apparently there's a leak... thread.

IMO, no. Get it from the library or buy it used for cheap. It's not like his other books; it's more like a typical pirate fiction story with a few extra details and a lot of the "Arrrr!" type stuff removed. But it's sorely missing that Crichton page-turning flair. (For more opinions, see this thread.)

I doubt they will, since it is out of print and now goes for at least $150. If they did buy it, they'd probably put it into their special collection which means you couldn't check it out. Use the hotlink I put in my last post and you'll find the whole thing on-line!